Lawsuit Claims Buford Superintendent Repeats Racial Slurs In Recorded Conversations
A lawsuit filed by a former employee accuses Buford superintendent of using racial slurs in a recording.
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A former employee of the Buford City Schools has accused Superintendent Geye Hamby of using racial slurs on tape. The recordings are part of a discrimination lawsuit filed by former teacher’s aide Mary Ingram.
She’s suing Hamby, the school district, and Buford Academy Principal Kaleen Pulley. Ingram, who is African-American, alleges she was fired from the district due to racial discrimination and retaliation for local activism.
Ingram hasn’t said how she obtained the recordings, which feature a man apparently talking to someone at a construction site. The man repeatedly uses a racial slur when referring to black workers, and says he wants to kill them. The school district hasn’t confirmed the man speaking is Hamby.
However, Ingram believes Hamby is the one talking on the recordings. So does her attorney, Ed Buckley.
“We’ve had several people confirm that it’s him,” Buckley said. “We’ve also had the audio analyzed to ascertain that. So, it’s our opinion, based on our investigation, that it is him.”
Buckley said Ingram received good performance reviews until she became active in a local group that spoke out at school board meetings.
“She was happy, she was good at what she did, and she was appalled that she was fired,” Buckley said. “Of course, she subsequently, she learned about this recording, and that appalled her all the more.”
In a statement, Hamby said: “This is a personnel and legal matter pertaining to a disgruntled employee. District council has advised not to comment.” An attorney for the school district did not respond to interview requests.
In response to his client being called a ‘disgruntled employee,’ Buckley said Ingram shouldn’t be expected to be pleased about her firing.
“Any employment discrimination case is brought by an employee who’s not happy for one reason or another,” he said. “So, that’s just a silly thing for them to say.”
Update: The Buford City School Board has placed Hamby on administrative leave effective Tuesday.
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